Client gifts: what to send, and the $25 rule

One that shows you know them, not just their company. If your client mentioned their new garden, their running, or their love of good coffee, that's your gift. A note that names something specific you worked on together does the rest.

Avoid gifts that are really about you: a branded item is rarely what anyone would choose. And send it for a reason, such as the end of a project, a renewal or the holidays, so it doesn't read as a sales tactic.

It's a limit on the tax deduction, not on the gift. Under IRS Publication 463, a business can deduct no more than $25 for business gifts to any one person in a year. You can spend more; the deduction stays at $25.

The publication has the details and exceptions. We can't tell you how the rule applies to you; ask your accountant.

It depends on the company. Some limit the gifts their staff may accept, and some industries limit gifts by rule. In securities, for example, FINRA's gifts rule caps what broker-dealers and their staff may give to employees of an institutional customer, vendor or counterparty; the SEC approved raising that cap "from $100 to $300" (FINRA, February 18, 2026, read October 29, 2026), per person per year, effective March 30, 2026 (FINRA Regulatory Notice 26-05, February 27, 2026, read October 29, 2026). Firms like these may have their own policies on what staff may accept, too.

Government employees can have strict rules as well. If you're unsure, ask your contact or check with your own compliance team before you send.

Be careful with anything that sends without you looking. A gift that goes to the wrong person, costs more than you expected or never arrives is worse than no gift, and you may not find out until the client mentions it.

Gratos stops before every purchase for approval of the exact total, and one view shows each gift and its status, from approval to delivery.

The same way it handles any gift:

1. Save what you know about each client: what they like, what they avoid, what never to send them.
2. Ask for a gift in Gratos, or run a campaign for a list of clients. Gratos suggests a gift for each client from what's saved about them, or you choose one. For a campaign, you review the list and approve the campaign's total.
3. Add a card. Gratos can draft a message, and you can edit it.
4. Approve the exact total. Then Gratos places the order on the store's own website, and the store ships it to your client.

Teams can also ask for gifts in Slack; see the Slack app for how it works there.

We do not market to your recipients and we do not add them to any list of ours (Terms, §4).